Voters headed to the polls n South Carolina on Saturday to choose who they think should be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
The race features former President Donald Trump, who had a commanding lead in the state heading into the primary, and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who has promised to stay in the race even if she comes up short in her home state. Voting is open from 7:00 a.m to 7:00 p.m. EST.
Both candidates had events scheduled in the state in the days leading up to the election.Trump spoke to thousands at Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill on Friday, appearing with prominent South Carolina political leaders including Governor Henry McMaster, South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and U.S. Rep. William Timmons (R-SC). Trump has the endorsements of McMaster, Scott, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
“Tomorrow you’re going to cast one of the most important votes of your entire life,” Trump said. “And honestly we’re not very worried about tomorrow, we want to aim towards November 5th.”
During his speech, Trump ripped into President Joe Biden over his handling of the economy, the border, and foreign policy. Later on Friday Trump spoke at the Black Conservative Federation in Columbia.
Haley also made stops throughout South Carolina on Friday, including Charleston and Mount Pleasant. Haley said that she would give Republicans a better avenue to defeat Biden than Trump would.
“We can either do more of the same, and more of the same is not just Joe Biden, more of the same is Donald Trump, or we can elect a new generational leader that will lead us forward with solutions for the future,” she said. “Our kids deserve normal they deserve to know what normal feels like. Joe Biden calls anybody that doesn’t support him fascists. And Donald Trump calls anybody that doesn’t support him vermin. That’s not normal.”
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Haley has yet to win any Republican contests for the nomination, coming in third in Iowa, losing by double digits to Trump in New Hampshire, and coming behind “none of these” candidates in the Nevada primary.
Trump has said that some donors are backing Haley to hurt his chances in the general election.
“Well, they’re trying to hurt me because of the general election, so the Democrats are giving her money and she’s playing into the game, and I think she just can’t get herself to get out,” he said this week. “She’s doing poorly in the polls. Look, if she was doing well, I’d understand it. But she’s doing very poorly.
There are 50 delegates at stake in South Carolina. The state has an open primary system, which means that Democrats can vote on Saturday if they did not vote in the Democratic primary earlier this year.
After South Carolina, the next contest for the Republican nomination will be in Michigan.